Asian American / Asian Research Institute
The City University of New York
For this volume, noted translator Keming Liu selected one hundred poems, chiefly representing poet Zhang Lian’s multifaceted perceptions of his world at dusk, when farmer and shepherd are blessed with a moment to daydream.
Part historical imagining of Japan’s so-called “comfort women” during World War II, part personal claiming of her own experiences with immigration and motherhood, and part exploration of identity across two languages, The War Still Within weaves together two cultures and gives voice to generations of Korean and Korean-American women.
Skyler Chin will present on Illegal, a poetry-rap-rock musical based on his grandfather’s immigration documents from when he was detained on Angel Island in 1923. The lyrics are inspired by poetry carved into the walls by Chinese Angel Island detainees. Chin wrote Illegal to give voice to Asian Americans like his grandfather whose stories had been left out of history, and to convey the fighting spirit of the people who began to define what it takes to become American.
April is National Poetry Month and <a href=”http://www.napowrimo.net/about/ Source: National Poetry Month: Asian-American Poets to Watch – NBC News
In the early twentieth century, most Chinese immigrants coming to the United States were detained at the Angel Island Immigration Station in San Francisco Bay. There, they were subject to physical exams, interrogations, and long detentions aimed at upholding the exclusion laws that kept Chinese out of the country. Many detainees recorded their anger and frustrations, … Read more